Depression can strike at any time. It’s Very common and it affects people of every color, race, economic status, or age. Depression is thought to be caused by an imbalance of brain chemicals, along with other factors and like any other medical condition it needs to be treated. The term antidepressant refers to a drug that helps to rectify specific biological abnormalities that give rise to the symptoms of depression. But what if that is not the case?
According to a study, which analyzed 47 clinical trials, at Hull university some of the best selling anti-depressants like Prozac, Seroxant, Serzone and Efexor are barely more effective than placebos in treating most people with severe depression.
“The difference in improvement between patients taking placebos and patients taking anti-depressants is not very great,” said Professor Irving Kirsch of Hull University, in northern England, who led the team.
“This means that depressed people can improve without chemical treatments.
“Given these results, there seems little reason to prescribe antidepressant medication to any but the most severely depressed patients unless alternative treatments have failed to provide a benefit.”
But drug companies strongly questioned their findings: “Their conclusions are at odds with what has been seen in actual clinical practice,” a spokesman said. “It is widely recognized by experts in the field that studies in depression are challenging and very difficult to conduct.”
This research, breaks new ground by incorporating data not previously released by drug companies.
Doctor Tim Kendall, deputy director of Britain’s Royal College of Psychiatrists research unit, said the study was “fantastically important.”
“I think it’s too dangerous to allow drug companies, where profit is a key factor, to be able to withhold data which shows that a drug is ineffective or harmful,” he said and added: “Three of these drugs are some of the most commonly used antidepressants. It’s not mandatory for drug companies to publish all this research. I think it should be.”
Alison Cobb, of British mental health charity Mind, hailed the findings as “a serious challenge to the predominance of drugs in treating depression.”
“Anti-depressants do help many people but by no means all and some people experience severe side-effects with them,” she said.
Another mental health charity, Sane, warned the findings “could remove what has been seen as a vital choice for thousands,” adding people should not stop taking their drugs immediately.
“Depression is nourished by a lifetime of ungrieved and unforgiven hurts” ~ Penelope Sweet

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